April 27, 2014 Sunday Nation 7 GIG GUIDE: FRIDAYS: ENJOY AN OUT OF TOWN EXPERIENCE AT THE SPORTSMANS ARMS HOTEL IN NANYUKI WITH THE BEST OF MUSIC AT THE PIRATES CLUB, INSIDE THE HOTEL. SUNDAYS IS SPECIAL FOR FAMILY FUN DAY. ‘Barua’ by Bahati DK went with ‘DK Kwenye Beat’. Well, he is back with another ‘whiny’ song, ‘Barua’. In his first song, he was crying about losing his mother, a genuine cry, I must say. Then in ‘Machozi’, he was crying about being poor in life. This time he is complaining he has written many letters, perhaps he is not getting any reply? Well, I guess next time he will sing about making phone calls with no response or something of the sort. Honestly speaking, with only two years in the industry, Bahati has really tried to be consistent. He has a certain unique appeal to his fans and that’s keeping him afloat. He just needs to try a different music producer and see what new sounds he can create, to avoid being too monotonous. B ahati should just call himself ‘Bahati Tena’ since that seems to be his signature hook in every song he does, just the same way HITORMISS Hala – Octopizzo HIT he picked is the right move but the quick-hit satisfaction is what makes Octopizzo the sought-after artiste that he’s become lately. His ‘ghetto blended with uptown’ talk in which he truly shines in and has carried out an industry-conquering campaign over the past year and a half seems to be working for him. For casual radio listeners and rap fans alike, his deep, tough ‘naaaambaaa nane baiby’ or ‘yeeeeaaaah’ adlibs have become his trademark, signaling the immediate thrill of 16 bars of pure absurdity and witty punchlines. The track starts with a bounce feel and his usual trademark before the strings come on, he jumps right in with his first verse. For his diehard fans, this might sound weak but he is a star now, we don’t expect him to be talking about life in Kibera every time he raps. N Much of the song is what has become a formulaic Octopizzo; massive OURPIX Miss University Kenya beauty pageant 1 2 amba nane’s famous son Octopizzo has a new song out. I don’t know if this latest braggadocio trend beaming instrumentals, a catchy memorable hook and a non sequitur verse with punchlines that sound like he’s reading a list of one-liners out of his diary, but that’s a conversation for another day. Generally, ‘Hala’ makes for a catchy song, a club record of sorts and its trap (genre from the Southern United States) feel seals the deal. The hook is catchy, sticks in your head with the first listen, and goes something like, ‘…hala at your boy, you need hot trends, hala at your boy, girl you need hot pants hala at your boy…’. ‘Catchy hook’ is the point so I get why he went with it, but he needs to stay with Swahili, this English flow doesn’t cut it for him. Octopizzo had a good run last year and if ‘Hala’ is anything to go by then we might just be seeing more of him this year too. His ‘day one’ fans need to understand he’s no longer going through the Kibera struggle so the ‘good life’ rap is what is to be expected of him. After all is said, this track is a certified banger. 3 4 9 1. Some of the beauties at the Miss University contest which took place at the KICC Plenary hall on 18th April 2014. 2. The New Miss University Kenya Joan Musumba (centre) a 3rd year student at Kenyatta University with Yvonne Mbula (left) 2nd Runners up and Winnie Njoki 1st runner up from Multimedia University. 3. Damaris Mutile (left) and Millicent Wanjiku on the catwalk. 4. Miss University Kenya Joan Musumba(right) and Valencia Wanjiru of Zetech. 5. KusMa of Camp Mulla on stage. 6. Rachel Chebet of Mount Kenya University. 7. Camp Mulla’s Tiri on stage. 8. Miss university Kenya Joan Musumba. 9. Joan Musumba being crowned Miss University Kenya by her predecessor Eunice Kamau. 8 7 6 5 VIDEOLAB